Spark My Soul
by jasmine.omega
Summary: 14 year old, Aliya Liu a bloodright Princess of Xing, being the daughter to Mistress Rei Liu, and an Shani Hua, an Ishvalan scholar. Her half-brother, Gen, sent her to watch Ling and his vassals on their journey, and bring the secret to immortality back with her. She was just following her brother's orders... right? LingxOC FanFic. Ling has no blood relation to Aliya! NO INCEST!
1. Chapter 1: Tag, You're It!

_**{Spark My Soul} Chapter 1: Tag, You're It!**_

* * *

/Communication Key:/

"Text." - Oral/Normal Speech

 _"Text." - Thoughts_

* * *

In every fairy tale, there is always the story of a princess and her valiant knight. But this was no fairy tale, so it's safe to say that the roles are… even?

Well, Ling likes to be treated like a princess anyway, but he never imagined stalking was one of the perks of being royalty.

At least he thought she was stalking him. It was safe to proclaim so. Casting a glance over his shoulder every now and again wherever he was, he could catch a glimpse of her snowy hair, or her wild orchid cheongsam **{1}** , or hopefully her skin, that would stick out the most with her, especially in Amestris.

Who squints all the time like that, anyway?

Ling, who was currently seated at a food shack, irritably stared straight ahead at the shelves of food displayed by the proprietor. He was irritated because he could bet twenty turkey legs that that weird girl was following him again. She was probably seated at a different food shack, holding a newspaper so that it shielded her face, but he and she both knew she would be peeking at him in some alternate way.

He had tried to get Lan Fan and Fu to sic her, but they explained to him she remain elusive or buried within the public eye so they would be unable to kidnap or interrogate her.

Ling had high expectations for a wild or tragic tale behind that smiling face she always bore.

"Excuse me, Sir. Can I help you?" A voice dragged the Prince from his thoughts.

The thoughts of his stalker receded, and Ling enthusiastically greeted the shopkeeper, "Hey there! Got any Amestrian delights you'd want to share with a traveler from Xing?"

The old man chuckled heartily, "I'll see what we've got in stock," he crouched down, probably rummaging through the lower shelves that were a part of the main counter.

Ling watched him curiously until something hard hit him on the back of his head. He grunted in slight pain before rubbing the sore spot, and in his hand he found it was a zen **{2}** that was tossed at him. The Xingese Prince, vexed, flipped his torso around, displaying a pissed off visage as his squinty eyes darted around for the person he knew threw the currency at him.

All of his questions were answered once he saw a newspaper at a different food shack giggle—oh someone totally owes him twenty turkey legs now. Ling glared at her, as if she could actually receive his gesture, but then he saw this as an opportunity. Forgetting about his order with the old shopkeeper, Ling stealthily slunk into the back of the two adjacent food shacks.

Pinching her eyes shut in uncontainable laughter, the Xingese-Ishvalan girl giggled from behind the large newspaper, her arms shaking in the ecstasy. In her mind she was chortling at the assumed idea that the Xingese boy didn't know that she had been stalking him for quite a while now, in fact, ever since they visited Xerxes, she had been following the party of three.

She didn't have a lot of Amestrian money at hand, but she found it appropriate to mess with the Xingese Prince a little more. To have caught the irritable and dumbfounded look on his face like she had was apparently laughable to her.

Aliya Liu's fingers clenched the newspaper tightly, until the object had been wrenched out of her hands. The Xingese girl jumped up in alarm, bright yellow eyes desperately searching for a solution to the missing newspaper. When she turned around to have her face almost buried within the toned chest of the stalk-ee, her nerves tensed up.

"A little birdie threw a zen at me a while ago. Was the little birdie you?" The Xingese teen raised an eyebrow over at her, and she stared back grudgingly.

Her suspicions were deemed true.

Ling leered high above her seated figure, holding the newspaper behind him.

Aliya kept her stance bold and defiant, looking back at Ling with a fire in her eyes, "…So the rumors are true…" she muttered, then emotionless.

Ling's risen eyebrow rose even higher as he inquired, peeking his left eye open. "What rumors?"

"You really do keep your eyes shut like that all the time." She responded stifling a laugh.

Ling couldn't stop the smirk from creeping on his face before it faded. "Wait. Wait. This girl is crazy! She's been stalking me for the past month! I can even summarize the schedule of our daily lives!"

In the morning, Ling would wake up on a random rooftop, and when he opened his eyes he could see that on another roof, there she was.

In the afternoon, Ling would pass out on the street due to hunger, and when someone woke him up he could see that passed out on the other side of the street, there she was.

In the evening, Ling would mooch food off of a random victim or circumstance, and when he surveyed his surroundings he could see the bi-racial girl getting quite touchy for the same motives.

Now that she was in front of him, subject to all of his questions, Ling thought he'd take it calm and gentle since the only harm she'd ever done was mentally scar him and toss a zen in his general direction.

Aliya swallowed a knot in her throat as her crimson eyes looked up at the Xingese man—no, boy, he couldn't have been too much older than her, right?

Yeah, she stalked him, but she didn't know how old he was. She knew what she needed to, that he was Ling Yao, seventeenth Prince of Xing, Son to the Emperor of Xing, and the half-brother to her half-brother. That was the reason she had been his shadow for the past month.

"…So. Why have you been following me? You're obviously not from Xing." Ling folded the newspaper within his hands, looking down at the girl almost like a parent would when chastising their child.

She stared back at his stern gaze for a few seconds before her flat expression contorted into a grin. She looked away from Ling, burying her head into her arms on the table as she bubbled away with laughter.

Ling failed to see the humor she did. Maybe she was just naturally cheerful, even more so than he was.

"I-I just can't take you seriously if you really do look like that!" Aliya chortled with laughter, her slouched figure shivering with each squeak. Eventually, the girl calmed down, and spoke. "And I'll have you know, I am from Xing." She held her nose and chin up, perfectly, as she'd been trained to for years.

Ling looked over her, unsure if this girl had her head on right. Brown skin, white hair, and red eyes are all traits of an Ishvalan, not a Xingese countryman… woman

Bringing himself to the other side of the table, and taking a seat opposite from her, "Let's make this easy, then. My name is Ling Yao, first, and only birthright heir **{3}** of the Yao clan. If you're from Xing, then you must have heard of me. What's your name?"

Aliya felt her mouth fall slightly agape as the information was given to her. She unfolded her arms from under her and set them on her lap, positioning herself more appropriately, "My name is Aliya. Aliya Liu, second bloodright heiress **{4}** of the Liu clan. But you must know my older brother better, Gen Liu, first birthright heir of the Liu clan."

She had shut her own eyes; speaking in such a formality her fondness of her own prince was evident. "So you're that Interbreed Princess I've heard about?" Ling sighed. Everyone has heard of her, she's notorious for being the girl whose mother gave her virtue to an Ishvalan refugee.

 _"Birthright or not, it would probably be best to get rid of a rival clan's heiress now, eliminate one obstacle now, and deal with her brother later."_ Ling thought

Aliya, smiling to herself, finally opened her eyes once the sounds of rustling emanated from behind her person. Hidden in her garter under the slit in her cheongsam, a kunai was revealed, and its form conflicted against another kunai {5} that was threatening to strike her.

A new face made itself known on her current expression, a face of passion, strength, and will to live. The suddenly appearing Lan Fan's kunai and Aliya's kunai shook against one another, unable to overpower the other.

Ling watched the two females intently. He had to expect that other clans would pursue the same ambitions he did. He just wasn't expecting a single retainer to stalk him as vigorously as this one had.

She was interesting, nonetheless.

"You are making things difficult in following the Young Lord like this." Lan Fan muttered, sounding as composed and intimidating as she could.

Aliya's hand began to feel sore as she and Lan Fan still bore knives against one another, but she kept up a stubborn smirk, "Oh, it's you again. You know, you really should do a better job guarding your Prince's body. Stalking him was a piece of cake!" A mocking giggle escaped her strained smile.

Lan Fan's black eyes rose to that of saucers, before she clenched her teeth and growled. Finding a new rush of adrenaline, she forced Aliya away from her, her black flats skidding against the concrete ground of Rush Valley. People around took notice of their actions, and watched as Aliya and Lan Fan stood on opposite ends of one another, both breathing heavily.

"You don't think I'll simply allow you to leech off of our struggles just so you can just reap the reward from us in the end." Lan Fan shouted.

Aliya crossed her arms over her chest, the hand containing her kunai pressed against her shoulder vertically, "Oh, so you already know why I'm following you? I'm surprised how sharp you are!" The Princess girl pursed her lips and dropped her brows.

In the background, accompanied by another shady figure, Ling clapped enthusiastically. "At first I thought you were brave in pursuing us...but now I see you are just a fool." Lan Fan pressed her palm to her masked face while shaking her head disappointedly.

She hadn't responded at first. Instead, she smiled a wry smile, pressing her index finger to her lip as she leapt expertly from the ground. The growing crowd's eyes struggled to find the girl, but quickly found her on an elevated rooftop; leaning forward to watch them. There was a certain look in her eyes, sharp and fierce as a hawk's, yet somehow playful. "Tell you what: because I've been found out, if you're able to catch me in a game of tag, I'll oblige to one request. But death is not a liable choice. I cannot die here, that would be bad."

As Lan Fan uttered a 'what', Fu, from beside Ling, stepped forward in answering her challenge. Though a bandaged hand was firmly placed before him.

"Young lord?" The old man, also disguised behind a mask, looked at the Xingese prince in question.

With a sinister smirk rivaling the younger girl's, Ling pronounced, "Don't worry old man, I'll handle this. I can't have you two doing all of the work, now can I?"

Fu and Lan Fan tried to retort and persuade Ling from dabbling in trivial business, but he seemed to have his mind made up.

His feet firmly square on the dusty ground, and with all eyes on him, Ling gripped the handle of his dao sword.

Noticing his gestures Aliya laughed, "No weapons. I did say I'd rather keep my life, didn't I?"

One of Ling's brows rose, "Oh, you did? I'm sorry, I have trouble listening to people sometimes." He smiled at her, allowing his arms to rest idly by his sides.

Aliya granted him a playful smile, studying him for a few moments. Reaching for her garter, Aliya pulled out a cylindrical object, bringing it to her teeth and making an odd, biting gesture before thrusting said object at Ling, "Catch this, pretty boy!"

The crowd, his bodyguards, and Ling himself watched the grayish object launch towards him, and he only stared at it dumbfoundedly and emotionless as his hands instinctively rose to capture it. His squinted eyes slowly watched the small fuse on the mechanism grow shorter with a meaningless and strained smile.

"T-TEAR GAS!"

"Everybody scatter!"

Creating a canopy over her red eyes, she cooed at the scene. Welcomed by the sudden outburst of smoke and screams containing words such as, 'my eyes' or 'I'm blind', she whistled as the girl propelled through the air farther away. She was gaining distance from them, and Aliya thought she was moving pretty fast too.

Her feet planted firmly on a final rooftop before she decided it was safe and Ling was nowhere to be found. If she was lucky, he was rolling on the ground, whining childishly about his eyes (not that they were much to look at anyway) and how he couldn't see. That was the type of person Aliya perceived the young prince to be after the time she spent stalking him and his persistent lackeys.

Aliya lingered over the edge of the building, crouching low as her predatory ninja skills kicked in.

Okay, so it had been almost two minutes already. The tear gas should have worn off long ago. Aliya pursed her lips, rather disappointed by the lack of challenge. Even if Lan Fan and Fu were able to evade the effects of the gas, the game required Ling to tag her, and not them. The girl quietly huffed, tapping her foot impatiently, "Hmmm..."

A sudden change in the wind caused her eyes to widen. Aliya jerked her head behind her, recoiling her bent knees and pushing herself off the roof before Ling could touch her. "Not today, you idiot prince!" Aliya chuckled, flipping over, mid-air, throwing a Kunai where the prince once stood, standing on the ledge of a roof, three buildings over. "He's gone?!" Frantically searching for the fool.

"Hey!" A voice called from behind her. "I thought you said no weapons?!" Ling whined childishly.

Aliya whipped around with a grin on her face. "Yeah… I lied." She smiled.

"I expected as much from an Ishvalan." Ling said with a smirk, lounging at the girl with a huff.

Aliya evaded him, triple flipping above him, before speaking. "Hey now, that's just rude." She toyed, smiling at his attempts to catch her.

When Aliya jumped over the boy, she turned, trying to prepare for his next attack, but he was gone. "The hell?" She questioned, looking around once more.

"Behind you!" Ling shouted.

Aliya whipped around to swing a kunai at him, but he'd caught her arm mid move, the Xingese girl wasn't surprised to see a certain squinty-eyed boy smirking coyly at her.

Blowing a strand of her white hair out of her stubbornly defeated eyes, she pouted, "Well crap."

"Tag, you're it! So does this mean you have to do whatever I want?" Ling asked, a smirk taking over his features.

"As long as you don't kill me, a deal's always a deal, and while I wanna slap that smug smile off your face, Ishvalans always keep their promises." Aliya sighed, folding her arms over her chest.

"Work for me." Ling said, extending a hand for her to take. It was less of a question than a demand, taking Aliya by surprise.

Aliya took time to think. Coming to the conclusion that this could be incredibly helpful to her on this mission. "Okay." She answered, accepting the hand her rival had extended.

This was going to be very interesting…

* * *

 **Hey guys! My name is Jasmine, and I really love writing. Its a passion of mine. I hope you love this first chapter, and I'd really appreciate it if you gave me some feedback! Much Love from the Omega Wolf Girl! 0_o 3**

* * *

 **{1} Cheongsam: A traditional Xingese dress, typically worn short, but there are several different styles as well as lengths.**

 **{2} Zen: A Xingese Currency**

 **{3} Birthright Heir: A person, in this case a man, who earned their claim to a monarch's throne by birth. Typically being the child of the King and Queen, but being their niece or nephew, or even grandchild, would qualify you.**

 **{4} Bloodright Heiress: A person, in this case a woman, who earned their claim to a monarch's throne by being of blood, but in some cases, not direct relation to a monarch. Typically being the bastard child of the King or Queen. A Bloodright Heiress must have their claim legitimized by both monarchs, however, and will have to be claimed by both as well.**

 **{5} Kunai: A kunai is a Xingese dagger, possibly derived from the masonry trowel. The two widely recognized variations of the kunai are short, and the big kunai. Although a basic tool, in the hands of a martial arts expert, the, could be used as a multi-functional weapon. It is commonly associated with the ninja, who used it to gouge holes in walls. Kunai were originally made to be farming tools but soon evolved into the weaponry they have become today. Many popular manga and ninjutsu characters use kunai as both their primary and secondary weapons.**


	2. Chapter 2: Mind Games

**_{Spark My Soul} Chapter 2: Mind Games_**

* * *

/Communication Key:/

"Text." - Oral/Normal Speech

"Text." - Thoughts

* * *

The black-haired woman's face waved to and fro in a desperate attempt to spot the familiar figure of her lord. Sweat perspired on the frame of her brow to prove effort was exerted. Still, no such luck.

"Where are you?" Lan Fan cried out, knowing full well it was hopeless. Trying to find Ling was like finding a needle in a haystack—and it was even worse in such a place like Rush Valley. There were so many crooks and seams he could crawl into after fainting from hunger!

The rustling of leaves ensued afterwards, and suddenly blue-black hair fell from the depths of a nearby tree, the smiling face was portrayed upside down, sending spasms of shock up Lan Fan's spine, "Here I am~!" Aliya giggled as her upper body hung from within the tree.

As she slowly interpreted the identity of the girl, Lan Fan spared her a look of disdain before glancing away, "Not you. I'm searching for Master Ling."

Aliya frowned, watching Lan Fan leap gracefully to another tree branch. The younger girl pulled herself right side up, and then followed in suit behind Lan Fan.

Her arms spread wide like a bird's wings would as she balanced herself on the limb Lan Fan was perched on. Allowing her hands to grip the body of the branch, Aliya inquired, "Ling's gone? Where did he go?"

"If I'd known that, we wouldn't be in this situation," a canopy was formed over Lan Fan's eyes. Even past that mask, Aliya could see the concern that lined her dark irises.

There was definitely something more going on between Lan Fan and Ling.

Her knees bent forwards before recoiling, causing Aliya to launch off of the tree, landing on a nearby building rooftop. Forming her own personal hand canopy, the Xingese girl smiled as she watched the whimsical, lively movements of the Rush Valley residents mingle and stride along the streets.

From her own observations of stalking the Xingese Prince, Aliya thought the shifty-eyed boy was passed out along some random street. There was probably a dog cuddled up against him too. She giggled. Oh, how she loved dogs.

Lan Fan watched as Aliya descended from the rooftop, some shingles tearing from the sheer force. "W-wait, where are you going?" Lan Fan paused for a moment. What did she care? Aliya was an appropriate rival, after all. Though she was supposedly an expert in stalking, so perhaps it was wise to let her loose…

Lan Fan's sigh was accompanied with a look of remorse, her brows dropping in exasperation. She was probably more useful than Fu, who seemed to vanish whenever Ling did.

The mixed girl stuck out like a sore thumb while walking along with the other citizens of Rush Valley. Not only was she much more energetic than they, not only did she carry the traits of an Ishvalan, but her foreign attire may be described as 'flashy'. In Aliya's defense, the skirt and high collar of her cheongsam proved useful to hide pointy weapons.

Aliya thought it ingenious to check all of the food shacks before making her next move, however the Xingese prince was nowhere to be found within the premises. Forming another canopy with her hands to shield her from the afternoon sun, Aliya displayed a frown, muttering to herself, "Now if I were Ling Yao, where would I be…"

Striding aimlessly through the desolate (In her opinion; the rusty automail and arid climate was quite distasteful) town, the Xingese retainer began to reminisce on recent events.

Most importantly, her union of partnership with Prince Ling Yao. No one would question why she'd engage in a one-sided game of tag with the formidable royal blood, but Aliya was confident in her abilities; so much she wouldn't hesitate in provoking Lan Fan were she the type of person to pounce when agitated.

Back to the subject of tag, Aliya liked to play games, however, in all the seriousness that she harbored, being a rival heiress, Ling Yao was more than likely to have had her executed on the spot. And three versus one didn't seem a very fair scenario.

Despite facing the constant threat of death, Aliyah wasn't scared. Gen sent her on this mission to Amestris with one objective… Obtain immortality… and kill Ling Yao. She'd rather die in failure than return home empty handed.

Her punishment in becoming compromised (Though she wasn't that subtle from the start) would be to assist the young prince in his quest. Once he got what he wanted, she would too.

Even so, the relationship wasn't going to be a burden. In fact, it benefited Aliya in her _real_ mission.

Though her contemplations seemed an eternity, the girl became drawn back into reality just in time to visualize the dragging tracks she'd made in the ground.

"…" With a lazy eye and one fluttering open, the girl was confused as to why she had only covered about a yard's distance in that amount of time.

Her legs felt like jelly, as she wobbled on them, only half-heartedly attempting to stand up straight.

As if it were a surprise, the Xingese girl collapsed on the ground due to the disease all Xingese suffer from appropriately named "mass hunger anxiety"

"Um…brother?" An echoey, hollow voice asked.

"What is it, Al? …Did you find another cat again? I swear to god, if you did, I'll—"

"It's not a cat, brother!" The armor stood up from his crouched position, stepping to the side and gesturing towards the dead girl in the alleyway.

"Not a stray cat; so what the hell is that anyway!" Edward asked, shocked.

"It's a girl." The younger boy answered.

While sucking the liquid dry out of his cup, the blonde boy traipsed towards his brother, bearing a stick. He cautiously nudged the girl's back with the branch, awaiting any sign of movement like a cat near a mouse's nest.

"Brother, don't do that!" Alphonse swatted the stick away, causing Edward to gasp, and they proceeded into a heated argument.

"Who cares, she's dead anyway!"

"Well, how would you know that?"

With such admirable intensity and with the sense that he was in no way incorrect, Edward raised the evidence of his proof: the stick, "She didn't react when I jabbed her with this thing. She's obviously dead, Al, so let's go grab some lunch."

The last word was that of bliss; salvation; redemption. Though the locks of her blue-black hair messily covered her slightly peeled eyes, Aliya used the words of encouragement to usher her own, "…Need…food…"

Any normal human would comment that with her manner of speaking, she would have been mistaken for a zombie. That was probably why they couldn't understand her mumbles, instead looking astonished. Despite how clean and rather cute she looked, Edward and Alphonse jumped backwards from the sudden, moaning voice, clutching one another:

"AUGH! Holy crap! It just talked!"

"See, I told you she was alive, Ed!" The armor shouted.

Quickly pulling away from each other, Edward pointed at the girl, taking the responsibility to assume command of the new drastic situation he and his brother somehow always found themselves in, "Alright Al, let's spread the name of the valiant Elric brothers and save this dying girl from whatever disease that's taken a hold of her. You grab the legs, the arms, and the body. I'll supervise."

Standing beside Edward without any sense of the humor or sarcasm that dripped from his words, the armored boy protested, "Wait, doesn't that mean I'm doing all of the work?"

"There's no time, Al! Lives are at stake here! Let's bring her to Winry and hope she knows what to do with girls with stomach aches!" Edward pranced ahead a few steps in advance to Alphonse, who was just carrying Aliya in his arms, until the shorter one rubbed the back of his neck, "…On second thought, did I mention lunch earlier? Because I meant it. Let's get something to eat on the way."

"Brother!"

"Just a biiiiite, Al," Edward whined matter-of-factly, folding his arms behind his head as he strolled on through.

And despite hearing all of their chattering as clear as day, Aliya was infinitely grateful of the one called 'Ed's' bulging stomach.

Alright, time to mooch some suckers.

The loud noise of glass hitting wood erupted.

Then a very relieved and contented sigh followed.

Ed and Alphonse watched the girl with two dot tattoos labeled under her right eye; wiped her lips with a panda-printed cloth before she thanked them.

"Oh, wow! I'm saved! Thank you so much, kind Amestrians!"

"It's Edward Elric. And no, thank you for slobbering all over my shoulder. You should've told us you were hungry instead of stealing the food right from my mouth!" Looking like he was recently harassed, he boiled over, now currently flapping his red cloak beside him to dry out the saliva.

Aliya only smiled at him with the normal, shifty eyes plus v-shaped smile facial expression that was her signature look, "And I'm Alphonse! We're brothers. Pleased to meet you! meet you!" This of course, came from the hulking mass beside the steaming shorter brother.

Pressing a fist to her palm, and bowing her head in a gesture of gratitude, she replied, "Aliya. Aliya Liu. Fifteenth Royal Princess of Xing." The last words taking the Elrics by surprise.

"Princess of Xing?" They both asked.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you don't look Xingese, how are you a princess." The armor said.

"It's no worry. My mother, the Emperor's Mistress, is Xingese, my father is an Ishvalan." Aliya smiled with her eyes closed. "Unlike the other Princes and Princesses, I'm not a birthright heir. My step-father, The Emperor, legitimised my claim to the throne when I was nine, making me a Bloodright Princess."

" _Xingese and Ishvalan huh, it's rare for those two races to mix."_ Edward thought, staring hard at their new companion as she spoke with Alphonse.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Alphonse praised.

"Thank you very much. That's a really cool suit of armor you got there, Alphonse! So you're into knights?"

Aliya asked, examining Alphonse's armor.

She could instantly feel the shift in the air around her that resonated from both boys after her question. For whatever reason was unknown to her. Ed and Al nervously rubbed the back of their heads, both muttering something along the lines of, "yeah," and "thanks".

Ed recovered quickly, immediately going down to business, "So, if you're from Xing, that means you had to cross the desert? You came here alone?"

"Yep! It's a real hassle with the desert between us and everything, but there was a certain person I needed to keep an eye on." The girl raised an index finger, locking crimson irises with golden.

Now the short boy looked more comfortable to be around, "Why would you come from there? I thought political relations between Amestris and Xing were rare because of the desert."

"Oh, yes, you're spot on. But politics aren't really my thing, I'm here under some very special circumstances." Aliya smiled, with her eyes closed.

"A Party?" Alphonse mused, looking so much larger in comparison next to his brother.

"You're cute." Aliya chuckled half-heartedly at Alphonse. Turning her gaze back on Edward she continued, "I came here alone, but I met up with a… friend, you could say." Aliya paused, wondering for a moment what her and Ling really are. "Maybe you've seen him? Tall, pale, long black hair, yellow overshirt, and some weird squinty eyes."

Edward was skeptical, as his younger brother answered for him, "A 'tall, pale, guy, with long black hair, a yellow overshirt, and weird squinty eyes'…" Alphonse quoted. "…Nope! I don't think anyone we've seen fits that description." The boy in the suit of armor shrugged his bulky shoulders.

"Uh, how about that guy over there? He looks like he has weird eyes." Aliya found Edward pointing his index finger behind her, and she followed his eyes.

Sure enough, there was a tall boy whose bare chest and squinted eyes set him apart from other Rush Valley inhabitants. An irritated look grew on Aliya's face immediately once she found Ling walking towards their table.

The first thing the Xingese Prince did was slap a hand on the girl's back playfully, and almost drooled on any leftover food, "Hey there, Aliya! Wow, that's a lot of food you have there!" He slipped beside the girl and began to mercilessly devour the food.

All three of them granted Ling hateful or disturbed looks, but Aliya was the only one who dared question him, "…Ling. Where have you been?" Biting her lip and keeping up a smile, Aliya tried her best to withhold her growing anger.

Of course she was angry! She wouldn't have collapsed on the ground if he'd had just stayed with the group and be responsible!

After swallowing his eleventh bite of food, Ling replied, almost singing, "Ahhh~ I've been finding out information on the Philosopher's Stone! What have you been doing?" Aliya watched a poor piece of salmon become forked before disappearing into Ling's mouth cavity. He chewed, swallowed, and then added, "You were eating, right? Well, I guess I won't punish you since you were kind enough to leave me some food."

Aliya stopped, eyes frozen wide with bewilderment. That was a word she'd never heard of before. "Philosopher's Stone?" she repeated after him, watching him quietly and being unaware of any food projectiles.

From the corner of her eyes she glanced at Ed and Al's unreadable expressions. It was like anger, fear, concern—whatever. The thing was the look on their faces looked pretty grave, and it had something to do with this peculiar stone. She quietly reprimanded Ling's carelessness, "Ling, what are you talking about?"

Unfortunately he couldn't hear her mousy voice over the sound of his munching, and so Edward's own voice dominated the conversation,

"Why do you want to learn about the Philosopher's Stone?" The blonde inquired.

About the same time Edward finished his sentence, Ling halted his eating process, and placed each hand within his sleeve to appear more intimidating and serious.

"Judging from that look on your face, I'm guessing you two are familiar with the Stone. You must be alchemists then?" Ling raised an eyebrow, unfazed by Ed's glares.

Aliya seemed to shrink in her seat, and tried her best to focus only on Alphonse's timid expression than Ling and Edward's stare off.

"I'll ask again: What do you want with the Stone?"

"It's quite simple, really." Ling smirked, facial expression looking too goofy to fit the situation at hand. "…Immortality."

Instantaneously as he revealed this, Aliya was witness to how he looked when his eyes opened. It was sort of scary, and sort of weird, since she was so used to his eyes looking closed.

But how funny his face looked (In Aliya's opinion) paled in comparison to Edward looking defiant and immediately denying having any knowledge of the Stone, "Nope, sorry, can't help you. I don't know anything about the Stone."

His eyes closing again, Ling shrugged his shoulders, "Aw, come on, you can't be serious. After all those ugly faces you made at me, you're going to just walk away and leave me empty handed?" He whined the last sentence.

Edward stood up from his seat, Alphonse following in suit. Just as he looked about ready to leave, the Elric boy replied, "I told you, I don't know anything about it."

Aliya watched from her seat beside Ling as Edward and Alphonse began to walk away. She focused so intently on both of their backs, that she hadn't picked up on Ling's signal. Just as she glanced at the Xingese Prince, air kicked up behind her, brushing past her person and sending her hair in turmoil.

As she struggled to fix the messy strands, the teen saw two familiar black figures bearing knives against the two Amestrian brothers.

Ling's voice filled in the tense silence, "You're a very bad liar, and despite my appearance, I'm not as oblivious as I may seem," Ling rested his head on one palm, and the other in his lap, "You see, you're not the first person I've asked about the Philosopher's Stone. And the most popular answer people gave me was complete unfamiliarity with the Stone. They hadn't even heard of it!"

Even with the kunai knife hovering against his throat, Edward gave off no signs of fear, "…It's kind of impolite, sending your henchmen after two strangers you just met."

"You two are very special exceptions, and it looks like you can help me in finding what it is I'm looking for." Ling looked playful as he waved one of his hands up and down, adding, "I mean it's not like I want to kill you two or anything! Just give me the information I need and I'll be on my merry way, alright~?"

Edward ignored the rants of Ling and instead stared at the masked figure from his peripheral vision. "Looks like we're not going to get out of here peacefully."

Just when Aliya thought Edward was going to give up, he launched his elbow towards Lan Fan, though the former sidestepped the attack, grabbing the brunt of his arm and pulling him towards her. The shocked Elric boy's whole body came tumbling down against the ground, and as he recovered Lan Fan gained a foot's distance between the two.

Alphonse only had time to call out for his brother before Fu subdued him, dodging his simple punch before leaping off of his hulking figure and drop kicking him in the face.

The two brothers met each other on the ground, completely stranger to the foreign martial arts. "What kind of fighting style is that?" Alphonse uttered.

"I don't know, some kind of Xingese sort of thing, I guess," Edward smirked, standing up on his two feet. Picking up a sprint at Lan Fan, he hollered, "But they're still not as tough as teacher!"

Displaying their impressive acts of Amestrian Alchemy and Xingese martial arts, Lan Fan, Fu, Alphonse, and Edward disappeared within the quickly forming pillars of rock and dust clouds.

Leaving Aliya with Ling Yao, who cooed at the scene, "There they goooo~"

Aliya pressed her face to her palm, looking quite sick for some reason. It could have been because of Ling's abrasive first impression, or she had just ate too much, "They're just kids, Ling. Don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" She glared at him.

To which Ling only replied with a very meaningful smile, "Aw. You're even cuter when you're angry with me."

" _What are we, a married couple?"_ Aliya gritted her teeth.

"Anyway. It's not like I'm their father or anything. They don't look too much older than me, if at all," Ling flicked his finger at the empty stacks of bowls, "And besides, I mean it when I say I'm certain they're exactly what I need to gain the Philosopher's Stone."

"Dream on." Aliya roller her eyes, pushing his face away with her hand. "How old are you anyway?" The bi-racial girl inquired, realizing she didn't even know the prince's age

"I'm 15!" He chimed, sounding quite proud.

"Oh, you're _only_ 15?"

"Why, what's the matter? Are you timid about dating older guys?" Ling teased her, not sounding very serious at all. But that didn't help the red creeping onto Aliya's face.

Aliya, however, quickly regained her cool and spoke. "Who said anything about dating?" She smirked, knowing her next statement. "I just thought you much older."

* * *

 _ **SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN"T UPDATED IN LIKE 3 MONTHS! I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH SCHOOL AND WORK! I promise I'll try to update regularly now. Hoping to upload a Young Justice fanfic by the end of the week! R &R Please! I really wanna know what you guys think of it so far! Feedback and criticism are always appreciated! Much Love from the Omega Wolf Girl! 0_o 3**_


End file.
